It’s safe to say Arthur Melo’s loan move to Liverpool has not worked out, so far at least. Signed on transfer deadline day from Juventus last summer, the Brazilian was ultimately brought in out of desperation with the Reds in need of reinforcements in midfield.
Yet lacking match fitness at the time of his arrival, the 26-year-old was limited to 13 minutes of action from the bench in the Champions League defeat to Napoli, along with three unused substitute appearances and a 63-minute run-out in the EFL Trophy at Rochdale, before suffering a thigh injury in training in October that required surgery and has kept him sidelined ever since.
In Arthur’s absence, Liverpool’s midfield woes have only worsened. While Jurgen Klopp has welcomed the majority of his options back from injury, it has become increasingly clear that the Reds need fresh legs in their engine room with their current options not reaching the desired standards.
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Liverpool do possess a €37.5m purchase option in Arthur’s loan contract, but it would be a major surprise if they activate it. While he will reportedly return to training in the weeks ahead, he has it all to do to even be given the opportunity to be the answer to the Reds’ midfield struggles in the second half of the season.
Yet despite reports in Brazil suggesting Palmeiras are considering a move for the 26-year-old before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, the ECHO understands there are no plans for the player to return from Liverpool to Juventus and pursue another move elsewhere.
Seemingly set to complete the season at Anfield as a result, Arthur will be desperate to ensure those 13 minutes in Naples don’t end up being his sole contribution for Klopp’s first team regardless of what his future holds beyond that.
In truth, the fact that his loan move has not worked out to date is boringly predictable. While the Brazil international might have played for Barcelona and Juventus prior to Liverpool, neither move was deemed successful and he has often been cursed by injuries.
Throw in the fact that he was a last-minute addition to Klopp’s squad, brought in only on loan and in response to a midfield injury crisis, his arrival was always a bargain basement gamble and one set up to fail.
And that’s even without considering the fact that he reportedly wasn’t even Liverpool’s first target when they made contact with Juventus at the end of August.
The Reds reportedly first asked after Denis Zakaria, having repeatedly been linked with the Switzerland international during his time with Borussia Monchengladbach, only to be told a temporary switch to Chelsea was already in the works after Juventus has deemed him surplus to requirements after just 15 appearances in Turin following last January’s €4.5m move.
Like the Reds’ move for Arthur, the Londoners’ own deal contains an option to buy, reportedly worth £24.1m plus £4m in bonuses, with Zakaria confirming that Liverpool had indeed initially asked after him.
“It all happened very quickly," Zakaria said in an interview with Blick. "I didn’t know a move to Chelsea was possible until six hours before the end of the transfer window. I packed my things and waited for the contract to be signed. I then did the medical check in Turin and it went through. It was very close.”
When asked about the reported interest from Liverpool, he added: “I heard that from my agent, but in the end it was Chelsea, and I think I’ll be happier in England than in Turin.”
In truth, Zakaria has done little to make the Reds rue missing out on his signature. He has only made seven appearances for Chelsea to date, scoring one goal. But the fact that Liverpool did enquire after him offers a little insight into their last-gasp summer search for a new midfielder. With Arthur seemingly not their first port of call, they were forced to make do as deadline day closed in.
The Independent would report that Arthur’s signing prompted ‘surprise in the wider game, since no one else was touching him’, and that ‘recruitment figures at other clubs said it raised questions about (sporting director Julian) Ward’.
While it’s unclear who else the Reds looked at before settling on the Brazilian, the 26-year-old’s woes so far make it easy to suggest that Liverpool made a mistake and signed the ‘wrong’ midfielder.
After all, at Juventus alone, while they might have missed out on Zakaria, Adrien Rabiot was still being offered around by the Old Lady last summer prior to his impressive return to favour for club and country. Meanwhile, Weston McKennie continues to be linked with his own move away from the Allianz Stadium and has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs including the Reds.
On paper, the United States international would have arguably been a better fit at Anfield this season too when you consider what Liverpool’s midfield has been lacking. Highly-versatile, the 24-year-old predominantly plays as number six holding midfielder or a number eight box-to-box midfielder, though he is also capable of playing out wide or further forward, and also played at centre-back, full-back and even upfront on occasions for previous club Schalke.
Meanwhile, with his primary attributes his defensive skills and work-rate, enabling him to thrive at winning the ball back, while his passing abilities help dictate the flow of the play and get the ball forward from deeper, at the very least he would have offered the Reds’ some much-needed legs in their engine room.
Yet as things stand, Liverpool’s interest appears to be nothing more than paper-talk with reports in Italy now moving on and claiming he could move to Arsenal, with La Gazzetta dello Sport claiming Juventus want at least an initial £17.5m for his signature. Meanwhile, 90min report the midfielder has been offered to a number of Premier League sides, with the Gunners, Leeds United, Newcastle United, and Aston Villa all interested in signing McKennie on loan with an option to purchase the player outright in the summer if he impresses.
While the Reds intend to revamp their midfield in 2023, such business is set to be on hold until the summer. After bringing in Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven for an initial £37m, Klopp confessed that it could impact on any future business in January and that he didn’t expect to “splash the cash” in this month’s transfer window as a result, before later spikily admitting to reporters he doesn’t expect to strengthen his side any further.
As a result, while you could argue Liverpool signed the ‘wrong’ Juventus midfielder in the summer, their stance regarding Arthur’s future suggests they will be sticking with their initial transfer decision.
But could they turn to the Old Lady again in the future, despite the Brazilian’s struggles? Reports in Italy seem to think so, with Calciomercato claiming another Juventus player could be on their radar.
Liverpool have repeatedly been linked with Federico Chiesa in the past, with such talk peaking as the Italian shone at Euro 2020 and speculation about Mohamed Salah’s Anfield future continued. However, the Egyptian would end up signing a new long-term contract at Anfield last summer.
Meanwhile, Chiesa’s season ended prematurely last year in January 2022 after he suffered an ACL injury. But after making his return in November, links to Liverpool have emerged once more with him again being touted as a long-term replacement for Salah.
Capable of playing anywhere in attack or behind a main striker, Chiesa’s favoured role is on the right-wing with Transfermarkt crediting him with 24 goals and 13 assists from 82 appearances on the flank for Fiorentina and nine goals and four assists from 20 appearances in the role for Juventus.
Liverpool have spent the past 12 months revamping their attack, bringing in Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho, and Gakpo, while waving off Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino, and tying down Diogo Jota and Salah to new contracts. Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are out of contract in the summer.
From Klopp’s current options, the Reds are well-covered both down the middle and on the left, but they are left lacking a quality senior alternative to Salah, with the Egyptian historically one of the first names on the teamsheet and one who rarely misses a game. But now the wrong side of 30, perhaps it is time to provide him with competition with the 30-year-old not enjoying best season for a struggling Liverpool this year.
And for all of the Reds woes this year, leaving them at serious risk of failing to qualify for next year’s Champions League, Juventus have their own to contend with after a 15-point penalty for alleged financial irregularities and false accounting saw them plunge from third to ninth place in the Serie A table. Outside the European places as a result, they are 11 points off qualifying for the Europa Conference League, 12 points behind Italy’s Europa League berth, and 14 points off the Champions League places.
Should they be forced to cash in on the forward as a result or their star players push to leave, Calciomercato claim Liverpool could sign the Italian for €60m. And while overhauling Klopp’s midfield remains the Reds’ priority, Salah’s own decreased impact this season suggests they might have to be in the market for a long-term replacement for the ‘Egyptian King’ sooner rather than later.
One only hopes that if Chiesa is Liverpool's answer when that dreaded day eventually comes, his would-be Anfield career could prove to be a lot more successful than Arthur's.
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